Moving back to Dubai after 22 years has been an experience! Back then we didn't have the internet or blogs. Now we do I can jot down my thoughts on daily life, things we come up against, things we enjoy, the multi-national society, the laws, the weather...plus other things in general which catch my attention.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

The worst thing you can do is panic!

Gulf News' banner headline across the front page today is

COLLATERAL DAMAGEIt says 'investors suffer another day of bruising body blows to their financial security'

There are quotes from people who've invested in shares in the local market:

"I lost more than Dh400,000"

"I've lost half my investment"

"...put around Dh150,000 of my savings and have now lost more than Dh100,000"

"We went from middle class to poverty...we'll have to resort to begging in the streets"

Half the front page is covered by this.

STOP IT!

This kind of nonsense is adding to the panic.

Only if you panic and sell the shares will you lose any money.

If you have a thousand shares in a company and you don't sell them you still have the thousand shares.

You will still receive any dividend the company pays.

If you've bought shares in a solid company you hang on to them, you collect the dividends and you wait because the share price will rise again over time .

Only if you sell them now will you actually lose a large part of your investment.

So don't sell!

Don't take the loss.

Naturally the same applies in reverse. When the share price is rising you don't actually make a profit until you sell them.

In any situation, in any aspect of our lives, the very worst thing we can do is panic.

When Sam sneezes, Jack begins to quiver; and Mahmood catches migraine.This is heralded as the biggest crash since the 1930s - so are we meant to be a privileged and honoured lot to be living in these times? So that, another 80 years hence, circa 2090AD, Hollywood or its successor then, can capture the 'romantically nostalgic moments of yore'' on tube or web or second life?Did Nostradamus see this coming?He sure would have had 20-20 foresight.I had stayed away from posting this historic (sic) epidemic but then, I guess it now warrants a post on: http://psychedelic-musings.blogspot.com

About Me

We lived in Dubai from 1977 to 1984, visited on a couple of holidays, then moved back again in 2005. We came because we wanted to watch the incredible development as it happened and we moved back to Oz in 2011.
I now blog on Life in Oz and the link is on my last post here.
I welcome comments & debate on the blog, but insults are unnecessary and inappropriate. I will delete any which are libel, racist, obscene, advertising or which are simply to make a point but are completely off-subject. If you want to do that, create your own blog. Oh, and I've decided to add a new category to the delete list because there are too many of them left on blogs - stupid comments.
If you want to use my photos or quote from my posts you may do so - but only if you credit the source and give a link back to my original post.